Under-pressure coastguard station may have to cover much larger area

Shetland Coastguard will soon have to cover an area “substantially larger” than its current patch, following the closure of Forth Coastguards on the Scottish mainland next month.

As of 27th August, the Knab Road station in Lerwick will be responsible for massive stretches of the North Sea, despite suffering from serious staff shortages.

The new patch to be covered by isles watch officers will stretch from Cape Wrath, up to 62 degrees north, and across to the imaginary line which divides UK and Norwegian waters. It also includes parts of the Sutherland coastline as far south as Brora.

Currently only 19 people are working as watch officers at the Lerwick station – one of them part-time. The station is meant to have a complement of 22.

The details emerged today as the cross-party House of Commons transport committee announced it was seeking new evidence on issues raised during its investigation into the coalition government’s streamlining exercise for the MCA, which almost resulted in the closure of the Lerwick branch.

Last June the committee said unpopular plans to close either Lerwick or Stornoway station and leave the surviving unit to operate in daytime hours only were “seriously flawed”.

Both stations were saved following an intense, long-running campaign. The committee is now looking for more information on the impact of the changes which have been made, such as the imminent closure at the Forth.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union spokeswoman Alex Dodge said MCA staff were having to work harder with fewer resources.

She said: “Forth Coastguard ceases to be operational as of 27th August as part of the plans [to streamline the coastguard service], and from that date onwards Shetland Coastguard covers an area from Cape Wrath up to 62 degrees north – the end of the UK search and rescue area – across to the Norwegian line and down to 58 degrees north at Brora bridge.

“It’s considerably larger that what we have at the moment. We have 18 full-time officers and one part-time officer, and out of those five are trainees and we’re supposed to have a watch-keep complement of 22.”

She said staff were already responsible for compiling marine reports for tankers and other vessels passing through the Pentland Firth.

“The powers that be hoped that staff from closing stations would move to stations that are staying open, but that doesn’t seem to have happened.”

Mrs Dodge said workers at the local station, who campaigned hard to have the unit saved, would be sending a written submission to the “influential” committee.

“As a station we are going to be putting in written evidence,” she said. “It would be crazy not to, especially because of all the work we put into it.

“As a station we must respond to that. It’s a fairly influential committee and, after all that happened last year, I think we need to continue with the fight to ensure that everything is right.”

Revised recommendations eventually put forward by the government included Lerwick and Stornoway among eight sub-centres which all operate around the clock, although several other stations from across the UK were earmarked for closure, Forth among them.

Now written evidence is being sought over how the changes which were made are being implemented, and how the changes have impacted on service delivery.

Last June the committee of six Conservative and Liberal Democrat and five Labour MPs rubbished the original proposals, describing them as “seriously flawed”.

When Shetland was saved union officials warned the changes which did get the nod shifted too much power to Southampton’s main operating centre (MOC), which was effectively designated as a command centre for the rest of the UK. Mrs Dodge said those concerns were still very real.

The transport committee is also trying to follow up its recommendations surrounding emergency towing vessels and the Maritime Incident Response Group.

Last year the committee chairwoman Louise Ellman said the withdrawal of four emergency tugs from around the UK coastline was “quite literally … inviting disaster”.

Recently it emerged that an emergency tug based in Orkney will provide cover for Shetland and its surrounding waters.

The specialist handling and towing vessel Herakles, formerly the Anglian Prince, will provide the service until March 2013. She will be operated by Swedish contractor Reder AB Nestor and will be located “in and around central and southern Orkney”, according to the MCA.

About Ryan Taylor

Ryan Taylor has worked as a reporter since 1995, and has been at The Shetland Times since 2007, covering a wide variety of news topics. Before then he reported for other newspapers in the Highlands, where he was raised, and in Fife, where he began his career with DC Thomson. He also has experience in broadcast journalism with Grampian Television. He has lived in Shetland since 2002, where he harbours an unhealthy interest in old cars and motorbikes.

John Nelson get your facts right. The Transport Select Committee saved the Coastguard up here by telling the powers that be not to be so stupid and that the technology wasn’t in place for the Shetland area to be covered from Aberdeen 365 days a year, 24hrs a day.

They based their efficiency data on one incident = one point, therefore an overdue walker needing to be located was given the same value as the Bourbon Dolphin sinking. A neat trick to make the statistics support their cause.

@John Nelson, I am disappointed with your response to this article. The idea to close any coastguard station in the UK is dangerous and down-right irresponsible.

The ‘crying’ you refer to was a well fought and dedicated campaign against any closure but in particular to our local situation as it would have led to disastrous consequences in many different ways around Shetland and further afield.

And as for the ‘whinning’ this is a direct consequence of the ill thought out plans of the MCA, who are still insistent on closing coastguard stations and are dealing with the process poorly to say the least.

I would like to say that whilst reading the story above I do not read into the context as being that of complaining or moaning, on the part of the coastguard officers, I interpret the story as information and fact being given about the situation currently at the Knab.

As someone who campaigned against the coastguard station closures this is the first time I have heard/seen negative comment regarding Shetland Coastguard, people who do a magnificent job and with whom I have great respect for 24/7 365 days of the year.

In reply I’d like to say that no coastguard deserves to be labelled as a “whiner” or be accused of crying about closures. I’m sure, like the Shetland coastguards, all coastguard stations across the country facing these cuts quite rightly campaigned against them.

They give an invaluable service, one that should never have seen cuts anywhere across the country. Is it suddenly wrong for an emergency service provider to campaign to help save lives?

To do anything other than praise all coastguards for trying to do their jobs is quite frankly disgusting in my opinion.

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